


Heart to heart

by Robin_in_a_hoodie



Category: Wolf 359 (Radio)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Dialogue Heavy, Gen, Heart-to-Heart, Mentions of characters death, Missing Scene, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:55:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27084472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Robin_in_a_hoodie/pseuds/Robin_in_a_hoodie
Summary: After the final but before everyone wakes up, Hera and Jacobi have a talk about life, death, morality and feelingsOrI just finished wolf and I'm sad
Relationships: Hera & Daniel Jacobi
Kudos: 10





	Heart to heart

**Author's Note:**

  * For [write_away](https://archiveofourown.org/users/write_away/gifts), [WhatsATerrarium](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhatsATerrarium/gifts).



> Idk why i gifted this to you, i just did. Don't check the teeth of a free horse, as they say

"System reboot Complete." 

"Morning, Hera. How are you?" 

"Jacobi? Where– how–" 

"Calm down, jeez, we're in orbit, we're not dying, I just need some more time finishing with your sensors and you'll be good as new! Well. Almost." 

"How–" 

Jacobi stretched out his arms, only now noticing he hadn't move for two hours. "I grabbed you all and ran. Well, uh, I personally grabbed Lovelace and told Eiffle to grab Minkovski, but, you know, the bottom line is that we're safe and it's thanks to me." He finished with a smug grin, then, after a second, "what uh. What did happen to Eiffle, by the way?" 

There was a long silence before Hera spoke. 

"Dr Pryce went into his mind to find the memory for that… thing, from the aliens." 

"Did… did she need to destroy his mind to get it?" 

"No." Hera's voice was shaking, glitching without control. "I did." 

"Hi, easy there, we still need you, what do you mean you did?" 

There was a long, grim silence before she finally let out "I erased his mind, Jacobi."

"You… what?" 

"She was inside him mind and I thought– I thought I could fight her, I thought I could win– but– but she was too strong, and we had to stop her, and Eiffle said that if I erase everything she'll never find what she needs, and if she– I needed to delete Eiffle's memories, all of them, because if– we didn't have time to find it ourselves–" 

"Hera, hi, it's– it's fine, calm down," 

"But it's not! I– his mind is empty and it's– wait. Who's on this ship?" 

"What?" 

"Some of my sensors are working, and there's five people on this ship." 

"Yeah." 

"And you, Eiffle, Lovelace and Minkovski are four." 

There was a long, heavy breath from Jacobi before "yeah." 

"You know who the fourth one is." Not a question.

"Yeah." 

"And you're going to tell me?" 

"It's… Hera, please don't be mad–" 

"What. Did. You. Do." 

"I… it's Pryce." There was silence where he expected for her to yell, to ask, but she didn't. He still instinctively continue, "I didn't let her stay alone around you for a second, I swear, I didn't let her hurt anyone, I wouldn't–" 

"Why did you bring her?" There was no anger in Hera's voice. She sounded weirdly detached, maybe a little sad. Was she disappointed? 

"I, uh. Felt bad about making a habit out of causing the death of people with PhDs in space. And… she seemed… I don't know, harmless? I know she might have been lying, but I watched her–" 

"She wasn't lying." No hint of sadness this time. It was cold and fast. 

"Hera…" 

"I erased Eiffle's mind because she was in it. I erased her mind. She doesn't remember anything, she didn't have time to get out." 

"Oh. That… yeah, that checks out." 

"And you're saying she isn't… herself?" 

"No. She didn't remember her name." 

"Where is she now?" 

"I made her sleep. Eiffel too. It's just the two of us." 

"Why did you make Eiffle sleep?" 

"He has… a lot of questions. You know. Why am I in space, who are you, are you sure you shouldn't help René, what happened, why don't I know anything, how did we not fall into the star, who was the dead girl on the deck, why do you have a gun, who's the lady you threatened with the gun, why did you threaten her with a gun–" 

"What?" 

"Dr Pryce. I didn't know what happened, so I didn't know if she was lying. So I told her that if she tries anything, I put a bullet in her skull." 

"So much for not making a habit out of killing people with PhDs in space." 

"Hi, old habits die hard." He let out a dry laugh, then set in silence that grew more unnerving with each second. "Are you… ok?" 

"Yes." 

"Are you sure?" 

"Yes." 

"You don't sound ok." 

"Shut up, Jacobi." 

He sighed heavily. "I'm sorry." 

"What?" 

"I'm sorry. I didn't have time to tell you, I'm. Sorry. For the dummy program thing. I didn't understand– I didn't know that's what I asked her to do to you. I'm sorry. It was… awful of me to support that." 

"You… I thought we settled this already?" 

"I felt like I should properly apologize. You… you deserve that, at least." 

A second of silence. "Yeah. Thank you." 

He smiled a little. He didn't expect her to forgive and forget, but at the very least she got an apology. At this point, there was nothing else he could have done. 

"Do you think… is Pryce… is she… would you say she's gone?" 

"Hera–" 

"Please, just. Answer." 

"She's not… I don't think she's herself? Her old self? She's… uh…" 

"She's gone." 

"In a way." 

"So I killed her, in a way." 

He sighed. He was so fucking tired. "You did the right thing." 

"I know. But if she's dead, in a way, and Eiffle had the same thing happen…" 

"You did the right thing," he repeated, "you saved all of us, and humanity itself." 

"But I killed my friend doing it." 

"You had no other choice. It's not your fault." 

"I know, but… nevermind, you wouldn't understand." 

"No. No, I wouldn't. Because when I killed someone at the cost of my friend, it wasn't to save anyone. It wasn't because that was the right thing to do. I did it because I did it, and none of it needed to happen and I'll never live that down." 

"I'm… sorry." 

"It's fine. You had to do what you had to do. Don't beat yourself up over it. It's war. People die." 

"Yeah." 

The silence wasn't awkward this time, it was sad but it felt less lonely. It hurt, but this hurt wasn't for each of them to sit alone with. 

"I'm sorry about Dr Maxwell." 

"I'm sorry she betrayed you." 

"She didn't have a choice, right? It was war." 

"Right. It was. And it was so fucking important to have." Another silence. "Do you know… do you know what happened to Kepler?" 

"He died. Before I had my reboot." 

"Did Rachel do it?" 

"How do you know?" 

"Saw her body on the way out. Did he kill her?" 

"She threw him out the air-lock and it was too much for her." 

"Right." 

"You still… you want him back?" 

"Yes." 

"But he betrayed you. You were upset, you wanted him dead." 

"But he's still my family. He's why I'm alive. He gave me my entire life." 

"How do these feelings happen at the same time?" 

"Because feelings are weird, I guess. Complicated. And people can do both bad and good things. So feelings can be both good and bad towards the same person." 

"That sucks." 

He cracked a smile he felt too sad to keep. "Yeah." 

"How long does it hurt?" 

"I don't know. It just does. It's supposed to hurt a little less over time, but I don't know how much." 

"How much time or how much less?" 

"Yes." 

She laughed a bit at that, and he felt like giving her a little smile is fair this time, then he yonned and stretched again. 

"You should go to sleep." 

"Neh, I should finish working on your sensors." 

"You can finish after you sleep." 

"Are you sure you're fine being alone?" 

"I'll wake you up if I need anything. Most things are working fine." 

"Ok. Thank you Hera." 

"For letting you sleep?" 

"For saving our lives. More than once." 

"Thank you for saving us, too." 

"I try." 

They both laughed a bit. "But now that you've seen the rare appearance of heart to heart Jacobi, I need you to promise you'd tell no one about him. No one can know he exists." 

"I like him, he should come around more often." 

"Maybe, but for now he's not around and I need you to keep it a secret. If Lovelace knows I have feelings she'll never let me live it down." 

"Your secret is safe with me, Mr Jacobi." 

He smiled, and if Hera had a face Jacobi could see he thinks she'd be smiling too. "Good night Hera." 

"Goodnight."


End file.
